


The String That Binds

by HimikoToga



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: A disembodied hand is its own character, Eichi won't shut up about jojo, M/M, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-05-18 10:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14850941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimikoToga/pseuds/HimikoToga
Summary: “Did you hear the rumor? There’s a strange creature that roams around campus in the later hours. They say if you’re ever caught alone with it it’ll jump at your throat and strangle you. And it’s said it’s too fast to run from.” Hinata says to Yuta, making claw like motions with his hands.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ta-da, a red string of fate AU. Based loosely off something I read once.

“Did you hear the rumor? There’s a strange creature that roams around campus in the later hours. They say if you’re ever caught alone with it it’ll jump at your throat and strangle you. And it’s said it’s too fast to run from.” Hinata says to Yuta, making claw like motions with his hands.

“That’s ridiculous! You’re just saying that to scare me. Don’t tease me!” Yuta replies, leaning away from Hinata, just in case he were to grab at him.

“No, it’s true! Ask Sakuma-senpai, he’s seen it.” Hinata says, gesturing to Rei’s nearby coffin.

As if his entrance had been planned beforehand, Rei rises out of his coffin in a true vampire like motion. That is before he ruins the scary image by leaning over the edge of it in a lazy fashion. “He’s not lying, I’ve seen it.” He says with a yawn. 

“See! I told you.” Hinata gloats and he’d probably continue on speaking if he weren’t interrupted.

“But it’s not a creature. It’s a hand.” With that said both twins turn to face him, wide-eyed and, in Yuta’s case, stunned to silence.

“A hand? There’s a disembodied hand running around campus?” Hinata may have been raising his voice, but at this point in time it seems fair due to the information that’s just been told to him.

“It’s looking for its host. Or should I call it its owner? What’s the proper term in this case?” Rei ponders to himself, ignoring the fact that what he’s saying only raises more questions.

“If it’s just looking for its owner why’s it attacking people? Is it a vengeful spirit, hunting down people with two hands?” Yuta asks, now very on edge. If this isn’t all a prank pulled on him, he has something to worry about at all times now.

Rei chuckles under his breath. “It doesn’t attack anyone. If anything it’s a nervous little thing. It only runs around at late hours because it’s too scared to be seen by large groups of people.”

“Do you mean to tell me this hand has feelings and one of those feelings is shyness?” Yuta deadpans, earning a nod from Rei.

“It takes after its host. But why don’t you ask him about it? It seems like he’d know best on this subject.” Rei says, moving to lay back down in his coffin.

“The owner of that hand goes here. To this school. This school we’re currently standing in.” Hinata says, pointing down at the ground just to establish his point.

“M’hm. It’s Itsuki’s hand. You know, the pink-haired third year with the beautiful doll. He’s a good friend of mine. If you wish to know more you should ask him. Go on now.” Rei ends that sentence by shutting his coffin, signaling the conversation was over.

“Yuta.” Hinata says, turning his full attention to his twin brother.

“No, absolutely not.” Yuta shakes his head. “We’re not looking further into this.”

“We have to! Come on, maybe he’ll show us where the hand is.” Hinata grasps Yuta’s wrist. “He’s probably in his club room. Let’s go!”

“I don’t want tooo.” Yuta whines, but by that point it’s too late as he’s already being dragged down the hall in the direction of the handicrafts club room.

The walk feels too short for Yuta because before he knows it his brother is proudly opening up the door to the club room and striding inside. At a table in the center of the room sits Shu who, sure enough, has one of his arms bandaged up at the wrist, hand clearly gone. Even with a hand missing Shu doesn’t seem bothered, keeping himself occupied with a sewing machine.

Hinata’s boldness quickly faded upon actually coming face to face with Shu. He clears his throat to try to draw Shu’s attention as he speaks up. “We heard your hand is cursed.”

Shu stops what he’s doing, diverting to his attention to the twins. “And who said such a thing?”

“Sakuma-senpai did. He told us to ask you for more information on the subject.” Yuta pipes up, although his voice is wavering slightly.

Shu sits in silence for a moment before gesturing to the other seats at the table. “Very well, I shall tell you more on this subject. Come, have a seat.”

He waits for the Aoi brothers to wordlessly shuffle over to the table and take a seat before speaking up again. “You shouldn’t look so nervous. It’s not a horror story. In fact it’s a tale of romance.” He says with a pleased smile. 

“I had borrowed one of Natsume’s books in order to look more deeply into the myth of the red string of fate. I’ve been rather curious about it as of late due to something Wataru had told me. Inside the book was a ritual so naturally I tested it out, you know, those things typical teens are advised to do. My result was displeasing to say the least so I rid myself of my hand so we’d no longer be connected. There can be no string of fate tying us together if there’s nothing to tie it to.” Shu finishes saying with a shrug.

“You cut off your own hand? Just because you didn’t like your result?” Yuta’s aghast, more so because his upperclassman is speaking so nonchalantly about this.

“I refuse to have myself associated with the man it leads me to. I’d rather have it scamper aimlessly around campus than know I must fall in love with that boy.” Shu responds curtly, he clearly feels very strongly about this.

Silence fills the room momentarily before Hinata speaks up. “Can we see the wound?” 

Shu nods as Yuta looks utterly horrified before the wound has even been revealed. He unwraps the bandages and places them aside showing off the injury. It was a completely clean cut however it was unhealed, looking as if he had just got it. 

Hinata seems absolutely ecstatic, trying to touch the injury before having his hand smacked away. He then decides just to say something instead. “Is it not healing up because it’s cursed and all that? Is it waiting for you to stick your hand back on?”

“Presumably so.” Shu says, beginning to wrap the injury back up. “But it won’t happen. I’d sooner die than even think about a future with such a disgusting man.”

“You must really hate this guy if you won’t even say his name.” Yuta says, although this was more thinking aloud than anything.

“I truly and deeply hate him.” 

“Right. I guess I should’ve expected that considering you cut your hand off to avoid him.” Yuta says, earning a nod from Shu.

“Can we guess who it is?” Hinata asks.

“You’re allowed to guess but I won’t tell you the answer.” Shu picks up his doll and places her in his lap as he talks, perhaps he was seeking some sort of comfort from her.

That answer means “Go right ahead” to the pair of twins. With some mental math they went through some of the possible choices. It couldn’t be any of the Oddballs past or present, nor could it be his unitmate or his ex-unitmate. But that leaves many options left up in the air.

Hinata starts with the guessing first, observing Shu’s facial expressions as he speaks. “Aoba-senpai? Or Hasumi-senpai?” Both of those answers earned no change of facial expressions. Seems he’s incorrect on those points.

Yuta interrupts his brother’s guessing with his own. “How about Mikejima-senpai? Or Kiyru-senpai? Or Tenshouin-senpai?” At the mention of the last one Shu’s lips twitched into a frown. Nailed it, that must bethe one.

“So it’s Tenshouin-senpai? Not sure why you’re against it. You’d be super wealthy.” Hinata says to a now very displeased Shu.

“I said nothing! And I care not for wealth. I have plenty already.” Shu says and it looks like he wants to say more before Mademoiselle cuts him off.

“Shu-kun and Eichi-kun have a troubling history together. You can see why Shu-kun wouldn’t want to end up with him, right?” Mademoiselle sounds sympathetic as she speaks, trying to get the twins to resonate with what she’s saying.

Yuta nods. “So do you think there’s a way you can sabotage this whole red string of fate thing?”

“I can only hope so.” Shu responds, somewhat dejected. He can only hope he'll be able to escape fate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Any decision is a good decision if you believe in yourself." Quote Eichi Tenshouin.

Hajime comes running to his upperclassmen at the tea club, looking a mix of surprised and fearful. The sound of his frantic footsteps is enough to rouse Ritsu from his nap, cracking on eye open. “Haakun, you’re being so loud, I can’t sleep like this.”

“Now now, Ritsu-kun, can’t you see that Hajime-kun is frightened?” Eichi tuts, nudging Ritsu who was comfortably laying underneath the table with his foot. “Hajime-kun, come tell Oniichan what’s wrong~”

Hajime points in the direction he came from, hand wavering slightly. “There was something crawling around when I was making tea.”

“A bug? I didn’t know Haakun was scared of bugs.” Ritsu replies.

“It was much larger than a bug. It was bigger than my hand.” Hajime looks down at his hand as he spoke. “It also kind of looked like my hand now that I think about it.”

“Maybe it was a hand. Anija babbled something about a disembodied hand the other day. It’s cursed or something.” Ritsu sits up and stretches with a yawn. 

“A cursed hand? That sounds fun like one of those rumored mysteries of the school. We should find it.” Eichi smiles, feeling as if he just said something brilliant.

“Mm, you want to look for it? Ecchan that could be super scary~” Ritsu clearly doesn’t seem to think the idea of hand-hunting is scary, but he is one to tease.

“Yes! It’ll be like those mystery shows. You know, the ones where they hunt ghosts.” Thankfully Eichi isn’t looking at Hajime while he speaks because he is receiving a rather flat look. It seems Hajime isn’t all to thrilled with what his Oniichan is saying.

“Aren’t those shows all fake? Nobody can really prove ghosts are real.” Hajime says causing Eichi to look dejected for a moment.

However that doesn’t keep him down for long. “Even if ghosts aren’t real you did see something that could be a hand. If we look for it there’s the chance you could prove the supernatural doesn’t exist.”

“Or you’ll find out it’s all completely real. But you’ll get a hand out of it. With three hands your jobs will get done much faster.” Ritsu says.

“All good endings. Let’s be ghost hunters!” Eichi says, with the cheer of a young child suggesting a game at a sleepover. 

“That’s so much work though. I’ll stay here instead.” Ritsu yawns, laying back down and shutting his eyes.

“It seems like it’ll be just you and I, Hajime-kun.” Eichi stands up from his chair and walks over to Hajime, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Lead the way.”

Hajime thinks about asking to opt out as well, but ultimately decides that’s hopeless. “It’s just this way.” He sighs, heading off in the direction he came from earlier. 

Searching around for the hand is what Eichi decides is so very, very boring. He was hoping ghost hunting would be much more thrilling. But instead it involved lots of searching an empty room, hoping something would just pop out. Which something eventually does and he misses it entirely, only being alerted to it by Hajime calling out for him. What a letdown. 

“Look! Over there, by the teabags.” Hajime points.

“Huh? Where? I don’t see anything.” Eichi squints, scanning his eyes from left to right.

“There! Right there.” Hajime points again, this time waving his hand slightly to help his point.

This time when closely following where Hajime is pointing Eichi did see something. It crawls out of a knocked over box of teabags, scampers over to a fallen teabag, and then drags it back inside the box. 

“It looks like it’s cleaning up. How helpful!” He notes.

“But can you be sure it’s a hand?” Hajime responds.

“I can’t think of anything else it could be but let’s get closer.” He says, taking a few steps forward while Hajime stays in place. 

It seems that whatever that likely-a-hand-but-not-quite-sure-yet creature gets spooked when Eichi gets closer as it scampers into the box to hide. Somewhat displeased at this, Eichi decides to give the box a gentle “nudge” that sends the box skittering across the floor and the creature tumbling out. It seems gentleness is key since now he can see the creature in all it’s completeness.

“Yes, it does seem to be a hand.” Eichi notes, feeling as if he’s done something brilliant. 

“I think you hurt it.” Hajime says, referencing how the hand is now laying on its back in a daze. “Should we do something?”

“Something? Like pick it up?” Without waiting for a response Eichi walks over to the hand it picks it up by the wrist. 

“Is that. Isn’t that gross? Does it feel weird?”

“Nope! It feels like a normal hand.” Eichi says as the hand begins wiggling its fingers, snapping out of the daze it was formerly in. 

With all the thoughtfulness (And wonder) of a five-year old Eichi uses his free hand to play with the disembodied one he’s holding, pressing his finger tips against its. Eventually he decides to slot his fingers together with its which causes the hand to jolt to life closing its fingers down so the two were holding hands, causing quite a shock for Eichi. 

“Ha! Did you see that? I think it likes me.” Eichi says, holding up the joined hands. “For a minute there I was so scared I could’ve died.”

“Please don’t die. I have no clue what I’d do with you if you died.” Hajime walks to Eichi, looking at the disembodied hand. He pokes the hand which stays comfortably locked with Eichi’s. “I think it does like you, considering how it forgave you for kicking it across the floor.”

“I didn’t kick it. We were simply playing hide and seek and I won.” That’s clearly a blatant lie but Eichi delivers it deadpan with a smile. Hajime doesn’t seem to be all that impressed with that.

“Are you going to do something with it?” Hajime’s voice is peaked with curiosity, what other ways could Eichi do something unreasonable that could also possibly (And unfortunately) involve him.

“I’m going to show Ritsu-kun of course. He’s involved in all this after all.” Eichi lets go of the hands wrist, seeing as since he’s holding hands with it he doesn’t need to continue grasping it with both of his hands. “I can show him my new friend.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Or safe?” 

“Of course I am and of course it is. Besides it’s rude to abandon a party you’re attending.” And with that he’s already heading back to where Ritsu is, leaving Hajime to scamper behind him.

Once the two are back with Ritsu, Eichi takes a seat and nudges Ritsu with his foot. “Wakey-wakey, I’ve got something to show you.” 

“Was hand-hunting successful?” Ritsu replies, neither opening his eyes or attempting to move.

“It was! Come on, look!” Eichi holds his hand under the table, waving it around to show off what he’s currently holding hands with.

Ritsu doesn’t look.

Eichi feels rather disappointed. 

“Kaichou-san, don’t you think you should put it down? Maybe see if you injured it?” Hajime gestures to the hand.

“Hm, maybe.” With some effort Eichi breaks the hold the hand has on his and places it down on the table. It skitters in a circle before flopping down on its side and curling up. “It looks fine. Although, it seems to be a bit scared.” 

“Can hands get scared?” Hajime says as Eichi leans in to poke at it.

Upon contact it leaps up and climbs up Eichi’s arm, perching on his shoulder. He seems to be very pleased over this, using one finger to pet it. “See? It’s just fine. Look, look how much it likes me.”

“Or it’s trying to get close to you to strangle you. It is cursed. If Ecchan dies I’ll lend my coffin to him.” Ritsu says, sitting up so he could rest his head in Hajime’s lap. “But in your will you have to leave me a nicer one.”

“It’s not going to strangle me.” Eichi says, as the hand nuzzles up against his face. “It’s bonded to me. I should keep it.”

“Like a pet?” At this point Hajime shouldn’t be surprised at what Eichi has to say yet, somehow, he still is. “It’s a hand!”

“But it likes me! Am I supposed to release it back in the school? Something could happen to it.” Eichi seems to feel very strongly about this, quickly getting defensive.

“What’s the worst that could happen to it?” Ritsu pauses. “Lots of things. He should keep it.”

“You too? What will he do with it when he takes it home?” Apparently there’s always new ways to shock Hajime. 

Eichi takes a moment to think. “Put it in a cage? Do you think hands need any certain type of care?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to buy it a ring or two.” Ritsu pipes up.

Eichi nods. “It’d be like giving a dog a collar so I won’t lose it.”

“Exactly.” Ritsu’s pretty sure his idea is a good one.

“You can’t keep it!” Hajime seems to be the voice of reason here.

“But it likes me!” Eichi repeats what he said earlier.

“If it’s a mystery of the school shouldn’t it stay here to continue its legacy.” Hajime says, hoping this will change Eichi’s mind.

Ritsu crawls out from under the table, taking a seat so he can better participate in the conversation. “Actually. It’s not one of the seven mysteries. So far it’s just a rumor. If Ecchan took the hand home no one would be the wiser.”

“Perfect. It’s settled. I can take it home.” Eichi pets the hand again which leans into his touch.

“Ah, so that thing is completely sentient.” Ritsu pokes at one of the fingers the hand is using to keep itself up causing it to collapse and fall. Thankfully, Eichi manages to catch it before it clatters uselessly to the floor. 

“Hey, don’t hurt it.” Eichi places the hand on the table which once again curls up in fear. “It’s all scared now.”

Ritsu pokes at it again. “It is like an animal. It should be fine for Ecchan to keep it.” 

“There’s many animals people don’t keep for a reason.” Hajime says, but he’s aware that likely no one will listen.

And no one does, proven by how Eichi picks the hand back up. “It’s taken to me, I can’t just release it.”

Hajime gives in, there’s no use in trying to talk Eichi out of this. “You should at least hide it. If you just have a hand with you in public you could get in trouble.”

“Ah? Are you looking out for your Oniichan? Hajime-kun, so sweet.” Eichi turns his attention to the hand. “Now how do I get you home.”

“You could place it in your bag. It’s not like it needs to breathe.” Ritsu points at Eichi’s school bag.

“Do you want to go in the bag? You’re not scared of that are you?” Eichi speaks directly to the hand despite the fact it clearly cannot reply. It does however scuttle towards Eichi and hop in his lap.

“That’s good enough for me!” Eichi opens up his bag and places the hand inside. “Say bye-bye, I’ll see you soon.” He waves at it before closing his bag back up.

“Mm, looks like Ecchan’s got a brand new pet. I think that makes this one of our most successful tea parties.” Ritsu says. “Does this mean we reached our climax and should head home for today?”

“It’s probably not safe to keep a living thing in your bag for too long. Kaichou-san should take his,” Hajime pauses, “new friend home. Especially because it seems to get scared easily. And should be careful when carrying your bag around so it doesn’t get too shaken up.”

“So many good points. Hajime-kun is super helpful~” Eichi stands up and gently picks up his bag. “I hope you two don’t mind cleaning up without me. I need to hurry and pick up things for my pet so I can get it all inside before my parents come home from work.” He waves bye to his two club members and slips off for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

If there’s any pet Eichi assumes would be interesting, it’d be a hand. But the only thing it has done since Eichi had released it in his room was immediately flop on its side and curl up. How boring. And having a hand laying down in his doorway is probably unsafe. 

He scoops it up and places it down on his bed where it only curls up tighter. He prods at the hand with his finger, trying to coax it into moving. “Hellooo, are you all tuckered out? Are you all done with the day?”

He stares at the hand expectantly, waiting for something akin to a response. It grabs some of the blanket and rolls, happily cocooning itself in blanket. This was not the answer Eichi is looking for and he makes quick work of removing the hand from its den.

“If you’re going to sleep you have to do it in your cage.” He drops the hand in a glass tank where it stands stiffly, looking like a bristling cat. “I’m not sure what hands need to survive so I only put a small pillow inside and some rings. I’m explaining this to you because I’m unsure if you can see and now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure if you can hear either.” 

He pokes at the glass with his finger, making a face at it. In response the hand presses a fingertip to the other side of glass where Eichi currently has his finger resting. “I guess you have some senses.” Eichi says, sliding his finger against the glass and watching the hand mimic his actions. 

It seems the hand had little interest in continuing to play the game of “Follow my finger” as it skitters across the cage and climbs on the pillow, circling around like a dog before curling up. “Well, that was adorable,” Eichi says to no one in particular. 

He spends some time staring at it, waiting for it to move again. At least, he tries to before he gets incredibly bored watching it and assumes it’s probably sleeping or something equally as boring. Pet hands were surprisingly lame, he’d have to do something to remedy that later. After it got used to its new home that is, he’s not cruel enough to harass it right after taking it to a new place. It’s hours later, long since Eichi forgot he even had brought such a strange thing to his room, before the hand does something again.

It’s near two am, when Eichi is completely avoiding both sleeping and doing his homework, when he hears a clinking noise. He pauses his incredibly important task of watching a compilation of every Wataru solo to try to pin point what he just heard. His room is dead silent before he hears another soft plink and he turns his head in the direction it came from.

The hand is awake and alert again, moving around its tank. It moves behind one of the rings and flicks it against the tank, standing still for a moment as if waiting for some sort of reaction. When nothing came it’d repeat the earlier process.

“Ah? Do you want attention?” Eichi heads over the tank, leaning over the edge of the class so he can poke at it. Like a horror movie the hand jumps up and latches onto him. It takes every inch of his willpower to not scream and pass out in a heap but he manages to power through the initial shock. He does, however, clutch at his chest, hoping it will calm the thunderous beating of his heart even just a tinge. 

The hand must’ve noticed something is wrong as it releases Eichi’s hand and drops down back into the tank. After taking a moment to calm down Eichi peers back into the tank. “Please, I beg of you, never do that again. I will die.”

The hand stays still for a bit, Eichi likes to think it was considering what he said, before flicking another ring against the tank. “I have no idea how Kira likes hands so much if they’re like this.” He pauses, “Do you know Jojo? I bet you do. But if not I’ll tell you.”

In response to his Jojo comment the hand begins trying to climb the tank which only leads to it sliding down. This led to Eichi believing the hand knew nothing of Jojo and that he must explain every bit of it in detail. So he did until he feels he’s too tired to continue on standing and decides to turn in for the night. 

Eichi awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring, and after showering and getting dressed he heads back over to the hand. “While I’d love to carry on telling you about Jojo, I have to attend school. But I have something for you.” He slides a manga into the tank. “This is volume one of Vento Aureo, it’s getting an anime so you should read it ahead of time. Now, when I get back I want you to have read it.”

With that he heads downstairs to enjoy breakfast and head to school. 

He’s one of the first few in the classroom, giving him time to take his seat and eagerly await one of his favorite morning rituals. He waits until Shu enters and raises his hand up, calling out, “Itsuki-kun, high-five!

Shu looks at him with disgust. “You can see my hand is occupied. It is occupied every morning, yet you insist on doing this. Is there a particular reason why you insist on doing this?”

Eichi waggles his hand in response, “High-five!”

“Die.” Shu says and takes his seat.

Eichi claps his hands together, somehow, harassing Shu never got old. He would’ve found new and inventive ways to continue on harassing him if it weren’t for Keito clearing his throat loudly. “Eichi, isn’t it too early to cause such a ruckus?” 

“I’m not causing a ruckus! I’m having my morning talk with Itsuki-kun.” Eichi retorts, prodding Shu in the shoulder.

Keito turns to face Shu. “Itsuki, is he bothering you?”

“I’d cut off my other hand if I knew it’d make him leave.” Shu replies, trying his very best to give no response to Eichi’s antics.

“He’s kidding. Itsuki-kun loves me.” Eichi smiles at Keito.

“He makes me rot.” Shu deadpans.

Keito rubs at the bridge of his nose. “Eichi.”

“Yes?” Eichi replies as innocently as he can manage.

“Please refrain from bothering Itsuki. Or at least leave him alone until lunch time.” Keito says, receiving a thankful glance from Shu.

“Keito, how are Itsuki-kun and I going to bond if I can’t talk to him?”

“You’re not. Now if you’re going to talk make sure it isn’t to him.” Keito then goes to his seat and takes it.

With Keito gone, or at least out of a range where Eichi could speak to him comfortably, it occurred to Eichi that he should probably tell Keito about what he came into contact with yesterday. At least in the time he’ll have before lunch Eichi could think of a very clever way to bring this up to Keito. A way that will surely include as many comic quotes as he can manage to stuff into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eichi is a dirty jjba fan. And this chapter is probably littered with mistakes like the first two were that like those two I'll fix weeks from now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you thought I stopped updating this. Well, I'm here to prove that incorrect. Enjoy it. Please.

“Keito.” Eichi practically dances into the student council room and over to Keito’s desk. “I have big news. I’ve gotten a pet.”

“Is this the part where you open your pocket and a frog or rat jumps out effectively terrifying me?” Keito asks.

“It is not. It’s a pet that would make Kira proud.” Eichi sits down on Keito’s desk. He’s off to a strong start with his Jojo references. Hopefully he can keep this up.

“Please don’t make manga references to me. And you’ve gotten a cat? I hardly see why your family would let you get a pet.” It’s not that Keito doubts that Eichi can take care of a pet, it’s just that Keito doubts Eichi can care for a pet.

“That would make sense. But no, it’s something else.” Eichi scolds himself for not thinking of cats and how it could be understandable and assumable. “Something more haunted.”

“What sort of pet is haunted?” Deep in the back of his mind Keito knows he’ll regret asking, but it’s already too late.

“A hand.” Eichi does not further elaborate on that.

“A hand. How do you have a hand for a pet?” This is yet another question Keito would regret asking.

“Have you heard the rumor about that strange creature that roams Yumenosaki campus grounds? Well, it was a hand and I took it home with me.” Now that Eichi had elaborated Keito really wishes he had not.

“If you’re trying to convince me the mysteries are real so you can scare me later it’s not going to work. And a creature that roams campus isn’t one of the mysteries. It’s a rumor, likely started by a first year who saw something in a hallway, probably a squirrel, and thought it was something else.” Keito stands up. “I’m going to get lunch. You can come with me if you want to continue this stunt.”

“Some of the mysteries have got to be real. And the creature was a forming mystery, if I hadn’t interrupted it would’ve been one.” Eichi walks to Keito’s side. “If you don’t believe me I can show you. I pretend to be sick and we both go to my house and I show you.”

“Can I have lunch first?” Keito asks him, this is his main concern at the moment.

“I’ll show you and then we can go out to lunch.” Eichi’s trying to bargain, he has to show Keito what he found. Having him not believe him is an insult to his very being.

“Deal. But you have to take me somewhere nice.” Keito takes out his phone, dialing the number he has oh-so-kindly been given in order to contact Eichi’s guards.

Eichi reaches over and exits the call. “We take a taxi. Otherwise they’ll think I am sick and we’ll be stuck at home.”

Keito sighs. “Very well. But you’re paying for the taxi.”

“I have to pay for food and the taxi? How cruel!” Eichi complains, even though he doesn’t really mean it. Keito sighs again.

“Yes. You do. But I’ll call the taxi.” True to his word he does while Eichi impatiently waits around. He wants to show what he’s got as soon as possible. 

Waiting outside is absolute misery for Eichi and he shifts his weight from foot to foot as he waits. “Stop that.” Keito says, nudging Eichi.

“But I’m impatient.” Eichi responds.

“Yes, I can see that.” Keito isn’t all to pleased with Eichi’s actions. Waiting seems almost too long for Keito, but at least the taxi arrived and they were both able to get in it and set off.

“Keito.” Eichi says. “Do I really have to pay for this?”

“Absolutely. Get your wallet out ahead of time.” Keito replies watching Eichi sadly get out his wallet. 

Eichi hands over his wallet. “I don’t know how much these commoner things cost. You handle this.”

And handle it Keito did once they reached the front gates of the Tenshouin residence and could begin the long walk to the front door. Keito passes Eichi’s wallet back to him wordlessly. Eventually Eichi decides this is taking too long and he grabs Keito’s wrist and begins tugging him towards the house.

By the time they’re inside and removing their shoes they’re both out of breath and Keito is considering if lunch is worth all of this.

Eichi notices the face Keito’s making and reads his expression. “It’s worth it. It’ll be really cool.”

“If you say so.” Keito is completely full of doubt but he follows Eichi to his room.

Inside the room Eichi runs to a tank and takes something out before running back over to Keito. “See? I told you it was real.”

Keito feels something strange in his heart. It’s possibly fear or possibly disbelief or maybe even disgust. It could be a horrifying combination of all three. Still, despite everything in Keito’s mine screaming for him not to, Keito reaches out and pokes what Eichi is holding. 

Immediately the hand clasps onto Keito’s wrist and Eichi covers Keito’s mouth to prevent him from screaming. “It does that sometimes. I think it’s playing.” Eichi whispers to Keito.

“Take it off.” Keito says, even though his voice is muffled by Eichi’s hand.

Eichi removes his hand from Keito’s mouth and uses both hands to tug at the disembodied hand which releases Keito. It then climbs up Eichi’s arm and rests on his shoulder.

Keito sighs in relief. He then takes a moment to observe the hand. “Eichi, have you ever wondered where that hand came from?”

Eichi’s petting the hand with one finger, he’s never contemplated and he isn’t really planning to begin to do so now. “I assumed it was a ghost hand.”

“Have you ever considered that it could be Itsuki’s?” Keito says which causes Eichi to snag the hand off his shoulder and hold it up.

He turns it over in his hands before peering closely at its nails. “Grab one of my Valkyrie posters. I need to compare.”

“How about you walk over to your posters so I don’t have to tear them down.” Keito says as Eichi rushes by him, holding the hand up to the poster.

“Oh my god, it really could be.” The color drains from Eichi’s face.

“I’m not sure how you didn’t put the pieces together. A hand on the campus, a classmate missing his hand. It goes together.” Keito walks over to Eichi and attempts to remove the hand from his hands.

Suddenly Eichi’s face lights up. “I have Itsuki-kun’s hand! If I return it to him he’ll have to like me. Keito, this is great!”

“It’ll be like a really terrible version of Cinderella.” Keito succeeds in getting the hand from Eichi’s hands and places it safely back in the tank where it curls up on its pillow.

“So you think this will end in romance? That’s even better. And look in the tank, I’ve already brought him rings.” Eichi gestures to the tank.

Keito doesn’t peer inside for fear it’ll jump up again. “So you believe you’ll return him his hand and he’ll fall in love with you?”

“Yes, that seems about right.” Eichi nods, this plan is full proof. And fool proof.

“I see. I’ll be here for when it fails.” Against what he believes he should do, Keito reaches in the tank and touches the hand again. Thankfully the hand stays still this time.

Eichi leans over the tank and looks inside. “It’s probably sleeping. It does that a lot.”

“I was just trying to move it off the book it’s placed under the pillow.” Keito pokes at the hand again.

“It’s sleeping on my copy of volume one of Vento Aureo?” Eichi raises his voice in shock.

“You gave a hand a manga to read? What’d you expect it do with it?” Keito slowly drags the pillow off the manga, trying not to wake the hand.

Succeeding in that, he removes the manga and hands it to Eichi. Eichi looks down at the floor, somewhat ashamed. “I thought it would read it.”

Keito rubs at the bridge of his nose. “I see. Perhaps it’s not a fan of Jojo. Itsuki does cover anime songs, if you remember, so there’s probably a genre he likes.”,

“Should I experiment with what I think it will like? I can scroll through crunchyroll and see what it may like.” Eichi ponders.

“You could ask Itsuki what he likes.” Keito tries to offer up a reasonable idea.

“Why would he hold a conversation with me? I’m not sure if you’re aware but he doesn’t seem to like me.” Deep inside Eichi is somewhat upset over that.

“I’m aware. But it’d be a nice icebreaker for a normal conversation with him instead of teasing him.” Keito walks over to Eichi’s bed and sits down.

Eichi runs over and sits down beside him. “That breaks character. He’d be suspicious that I’m up to something.”

“Aren’t you up to something?” Keito says.

“I’m up to something good. Aren’t I trying to return his hand? That’s good.” Eichi claps his hands down on his thighs, making sure his point is well known.

“You’ve yet to confirm if it is his. You’ve only compared it to a poster.” Even with Eichi trying to make a point it doesn’t waver Keito’s doubt.

“What am I supposed to do? Ask him if his hand ran off when he lost it?” Eichi asks, this is somewhat distressing to him.

“Ask someone close to him. You’re in a unit with Hibiki, are you not? Those two are very close.” Eichi lurches up at what Keito says. He’s apparently never thought of that.

“You really think Wataru would know?” Eichi asks, this information really opened up a new world for him.

“He’s, unfortunately, an expert with magic. Isn’t this right down his alley?” The more Keito speaks on this topic the more he really wishes he isn’t doing so. It’s like he’s digging his own grave yet he cannot stop.

“Oh! This is perfect.” This leads Eichi one step closer to making friends with the one who hates him most.

“Please,” Keito says, “Do not bring the hand with you. I know you’re tempted to. But you’ll only get in trouble.”

Eichi feels himself deflate at that. He was hoping that’d help with solving the mystery of the hand. “Bring in photos of it. Or a video.” Keito adds to his earlier statement. “If it is Itsuki’s hand Hibiki probably already knows about it. He’ll likely only be concerned how you obtained it.”

“That’s an easy enough story, I picked it up.” Which was exactly how Eichi got the hand and Keito isn’t even going to question it. He fully assumes that’s exactly what happened.

“So that’s what you tell him. Try not to tell everyone about this though. Itsuki will be swarmed with questions which will only make him nervous.” Keito’s well aware of the consequences this scenario could lead to and he wishes he weren’t apart of it. Sadly, he already is so he’ll have to grin and bear it. And make sure this doesn’t spread across the school. He’s certainly not going to explain any of the Yumenosaki mysteries to anyone. That’ll be Eichi’s job.

“I’m sure no one will figure it out.” Eichi says while unbeknownst to him a collection of people are already in the know about this.

“You should knock on wood. I don’t want you to jinx this.” Keito points at the nearby nightside table which Eich knocks his fist against.

“Do you feel better about this now?” 

“Not particularly. But I’ll accept that as one small thing to soothe my mind.” This is as close as he’ll get to relaxing once these shenanigans begin. 

“You don’t need to worry. If anything Sakuma-kun will help handle it. He’s the protector of the Eccentrics.” Eichi decides that’s a nice title for Rei, he is the leader of the Eccentrics after all so of course he would help care for them. Them and their magic hands.

Being in a unit with Rei in the year prior gave Keito some faith in him, maybe even enough to trust he’d properly care for Shu. “If it comes down to it Sakuma may help but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You should talk to him about the hand too.”

“Another good idea. Maybe I should talk to all the Eccentrics. And Kagehira-kun too. Anyone close to him should know something about this.” 

While that was a logical train of thought Keito is well aware that Mika would want nothing to do with Eichi. So he may as well inform Eichi about that now. “Kagehira will want nothing to do with what you’re doing. Anything involving Itsuki is serious business to him.”

Just because Keito’s right doesn’t mean Eichi wants him to be correct. “Okay, I’ll talk to everyone on that list but Kagehira. Maybe I’ll sub in Tsumugi in his place. Itsuki-kun and Tsumugi are in the same club after all.”

“I can’t guarantee Aoba will have any information. Itsuki seems to resent him as well. And Aoba’s often busy with library committee so who can say if he’s seen Itsuki at all lately.” Keito’s once again does his job of providing some insight on the relationships of Shu, who wishes to keep Eichi out of them entirely. 

“It seems Wataru is my best bet.” Eichi rests his hands in his lap, the options of who he can ask is beginning to develop limits. 

“If you bring Sakuma some tomato juice he may tell you something. But getting something out of Shinkai and Sakasaki is much less likely for differing reasons.” There are many more points Keito could bring up, but they all bring back to the point of this is all going to be complicated. Much more complicated than Cinderella. 

“It’s like how you have to bring an NPC an item to earn something. You play video games, right?” Eichi is now trying to show off his knowledge of commoner things Keito may like.

“Yes Eichi, I play video games. You’d be surprised how many people do.” Keito’s begun wondering if Eichi is attempting to distract him or if he’s just lost the plot himself. “But that doesn’t factor in to how you plan to return the hand to Itsuki.”

“Uu, we already planned for me to talk to Wataru and Sakuma, don’t we have a good outline? We’ll confirm the hand is Itsuki’s and then return it to him. It’s the bare bones of a plan.” It is the bare bones of a plan, that could not be denied, but Keito believes Eichi could do much better. 

“And how do we return him the hand?” This is a crucial part in the plan, one Keito wants to get down as soon as they can.

“I get down on one knee and place it back on, much like how the prince returned the glass slipper to Cinderella.” This is about as good as this part of the plan is going to get.

Keito rubs his temples. Planning everything out is going to take a while. “We’ve talked enough. Take me to lunch now, please.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a long time for me to update and there is no excuse, but feel free to make one up for me.

The best way to subtly involve Wataru in this situation is to write about it in their shared exchanged diary. He tries to make the inclusion of said subject as vague as possible in order to leave off in a way Wataru would need to ask him about. It seems he is able to make a fleshed out plan on his own.

A plan that works because as Eichi is exiting class to head to lunch Wataru approaches him, journal in hand. Eichi decides to play it coy with Wataru, "It's to early to trade that back to me. Did I perhaps write something strange?"

Wataru simply smiles, well, he was already smiling so it's more like he stayed smiling. "I wouldn't say so much as strange but more concerning. Something I believe we should discuss. But privately!" 

"Whatever you find concerning I hope we can work it out. I'd hate to ruin our exchanges. How private should our meetings be on a scale of empty hallway to closet?" Eichi asks, extremely sincere on this.

"Empty closet sounds like much more fun." Wataru buys into this idea, secret meetings may as well be fun. "Lead the way to your closet of choice!" Wataru is a real gentleman, letting Eichi choose the closet they were going to have a chat in.

Eichi takes a moment to decide what his absolute favorite closet in Yumenosaki would be and then leads Wataru to it. Both duck inside and close the door, Wataru clicking the lock behind them. For a moment Eichi believes he's going to get laid or, at least, engage in some sloppy makeouts. 

That was not the case as Wataru waves the journal around, reminding Eichi that he did write about a disembodied hand that may belong to Wataru's dear friend. "Eichi, did you truly bring that hand home?"

Eichi nods. "I did. It's in a tank in my home."

"Please return it to the school." Eichi could almost picture a serious expression on Wataru's face as he said that, although Wataru still seems and sounds upbeat.

"But it's safer at my house." Eichi crosses his arms like a spoiled child. "Unless the owner asks for it back I'm keeping it. It's safe there."

"If it's here it can reunite with its master. After all here's where it's owner resides. So you must return it." 

"I can simply return it to its master by inviting them over to my home. They'll reunite safely away from the public eye. Now," Eichi says, finally finding a way to worm his real question into this conversation, "If it truly is Itsuki-kun's hand, how am I to invite him over to my manor without him spitting in my face?"

Wataru's uncharacteristically silent for a mere moment before once again returning to his loud tone. "Amazing! You figured out who it belonged to all on your own? In such a short time? Truly a feat!" Eichi feels almost proud from this praise, even if he did have some help in figuring out who's hand it was. "However," Wataru continues, "I haven't a clue of how to get Shu over to your house. In fact, I think he'd rather die than spend some quality time with you."

The confirmation of his theory that it was Shu's hand being confirmed is a relief but Eichi's back to having no clue how to proceed. "But surely he needs this back, right? There must be way to proposition a way to get him over just to receive what he's lost. But before all that I need to speak to him privately in order to even tell him I know about the hand."

Eichi pounds the bottom of one of his fists into his other open palm, trying to represent that he had an idea. "I'll just corner him next time he goes to the nurse!"

That seems like a good enough idea to Wataru, which he will state. "Perfect! That's one of the most secluded places to corner someone. And no one will question why you're at the nurse."

"Exactly!" Eichi nodded. "And it's unlike Sagami-sensei to be in the nurse's office."

It seems a plan has been made and settled on, for the most part. Shu just has to be cornered like an animal so Eichi can manage to get a conversation with him going. Which Eichi is more than willing to do. Wataru has also signed off on this plan meaning it must be good because Wataru is friends with Shu so he knows what's best for Shu. This line of logic made sense to Eichi and likely many others. 

"Are we going to leave the closet now?" Eichi asks, still hoping that there's the possibility of a quickie, he'd even take just a kiss.

He'd be getting neither as Wataru says, "Yes! I believe we should go about our days." Wataru unlocks the door, opens it, and steps out, holding the door open for Eichi who steps out after him. Wataru then smiles and holds the journal up before holding it up against his chest. "I'll make sure to fill this out, but I'm sure it won't be as exciting as what you've done last."

With that Wataru walks off, leaving Eichi alone. It seems Eichi will not have to question Rei about the hand after all. But he likes to talk to the Oddballs so he will anyway. So he sets off towards the light music club room, as it's more likely Rei's sleeping in there than attending class.

He doesn't find Rei in the light music room, which is closed and locked tight. But he does find Rei crammed into a nearby locker. 

"Hello~" Rei says, wriggling slightly. "Could you please help me out?"

"What are you doing in there?" Eichi asks, tilting his head to the side.

"The club room was locked so I couldn't get to my coffin. I decided a locker was small and dark enough to make up for it. But I got stuck." Rei explains like it's normal. He sticks his arm out for Eichi to grab. "Please help."

"I will." Eichi says, readying himself to strike a deal. "If you promise to tell me more about Itsuki-kun's hand."

Rei pauses to think then realizing he's likely to be stuck much longer if he doesn't take this bargain. Considering how wildly cramped and uncomfortable this is right now he must agree. "Deal."

Eichi grabs Rei's arm and, with a harsh yank, pulls Rei out of the locker. Rei stumbles, nearly colliding with Eichi before catching his ground. Rei brushes himself off then does a full body shake to stretch himself out.

"Ow." Rei says. "What would you like to know about that hand?" 

"It is Itsuki-kun's hand." Eichi says and Rei averts his eyes. "Wataru told me it is. I need to know how to return the hand to Itsuki-kun." Eichi continues.

Rei faces Eichi again and nods his head. "It won't happen. He doesn't want it back. It's why he cut it off."

"What." Eichi asks in shock. "He's the one that cut it off? Why on earth would he do so?"

"He did something involving the red string of fate. Didn't like his results so he got rid of his hand." Rei says like this is normal, perhaps it is for the Oddballs. Eichi couldn't be sure what runs through those guys minds. Apparently cutting hands off.

"I have that hand". Rei quirks an eyebrow at when Eichi says that. Even though he has a plan Eichi still decides to ask Rei one more question. "How should I bring it back to him? I can't hide it in my house forever."

"Your house is big to hide anything in it forever." Rei firmly believes that statement. He also believes Eichi could just hire someone to hide the hand as well. Rich people could do lots of things. "You could offer it back up to him, but I'm certain he wouldn't keep it. Someone, maybe you, but unlikely, needs to warm him to the idea of his soulmate."

"Like a shoujo manga? I'm not experienced with those." Eichi was typically more involved in shounen manga. "But I've seen romance in some things I've read. Do you think I could make a Yukako out of him?"

Rei has no idea what that means. But he'll nod anyway. "If that means he'll fall in love that will give you a chance to return his hand to him." 

If Jojo could help Eichi complete this task he has more a reason to try to get that hand to read more. Or pretend to read if it couldn't actually read. But he does have no idea how to actually make Shu anything like Yukako. He's heard Wataru describe Shu as a person of romance, but if he wasn't in love with someone Eichi would unlikely be able to convince him to fall in love. Maybe he could ask politely, asking "Please fall in love." could work. It's unlikely, but Eichi can dream. Dream until he comes up with a good plan.

"I'm sure I could push him in the right direction." Well, less of a push and more of a harsh shove, but at the end of the day what accomplishes Eichi's goals is a good solution. 

"But you shouldn't let him know you know the reason he cut it off. He'd shut down if he knew you knew." Rei adds in.

"Hm? Can I at least know who his soulmate is?" Eichi asks, feeling as if this is getting more and more convoluted. 

"Not a chance." Rei says.


End file.
